We all find ourselves thinking "I will never be as good as that person... but at least I'm better than this dingleberry." We shouldn't, because such thoughts smack of relativism, and relativism is bunk.
God is infinite and absolute. When one is infinite and absolute, one doesn't arse oneself with scorekeeping - something is or it ain't.
Sins are sins. All sins are abominations in the eyes of the Lord, from intentionally short-changing a busy and inattentive customer at Starbucks to murdering a busload of nuns.
Sinners are sinners. All have fallen short in the eyes of the Lord. From your own grandmother to your church deacons to criminals on death row, all the way down to politicians in Washington - all have sinned. (I know this, because all have been six years old on Easter and/or Halloween and giddily blown past his or her parents' limit on candy consumption.)
Therefore, we are all scum. Myself included. Wretched, befouled dung-crawlers unworthy to see the light of the sun. All of us. No exceptions.
However, redemption is redemption. For those of us who have truly taken the Lord Jesus into our hearts as our savior, He declares us clean and worthy. Even goobers like me who continually sin even after coming to the Lord are perfectly forgiven recipients of His grace and mercy.
I am clean. As is everybody who calls Jesus Lord with his or her soul as well as mouth.
And we're all just as clean. Forgiven is forgiven. My pastors are no more forgivener than I am, nor am I the most forgivenest meat puppet in the room right now - we are all forgiven. Done.
Thus, noone is better than you, nor are you better than anyone in the eyes of the Lord. Infinity works like that. Salvation is in truth a pass/fail course.
But studying is still a good idea.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Post #9 - Big Bang Theory
Well, heck... I may as well just get this out of the way early.
I like science. I believe science. I love and believe God as well. And yes I can do both.
Let's look one of at the hottest, most divisive issues between the religious and scientific communities: Creationism vs The Big Bang.
Look at the progression of creation in Genesis 1. God said "Let there be light" and there was... how is that any different than the Big Bang Theory? Day Two - continents and oceans form. Day Three - Vegetation. Day Four - Stability of the earth's rotation. Day Five - Fish and birds. Day Six - Meat! This progression parallels the theorized physical progression the bulk of your astrophysicists propose, only the scentific community measures this progression in billions of years rather than six days.
But who is to say how long these "days" were during the creation? It wasn't until Day Four that days, nights and seasons were established and regulated (which I called "Stability of the earth's rotation" above), so the 24-hour standard of a day is not particularly likely.
The Bible had to be written so humans could understand it. Early humans understood "days" - "epochs" were a bit above them. Days, like epochs, have beginnings and ends with busy, shiny parts in the middle, so calling these epochs "days" makes sense. The Bible is full of inexact parallels to aid dipshits like us wrap our puny brains around larger concepts - why not open with one?
I like science. I believe science. I love and believe God as well. And yes I can do both.
Let's look one of at the hottest, most divisive issues between the religious and scientific communities: Creationism vs The Big Bang.
Look at the progression of creation in Genesis 1. God said "Let there be light" and there was... how is that any different than the Big Bang Theory? Day Two - continents and oceans form. Day Three - Vegetation. Day Four - Stability of the earth's rotation. Day Five - Fish and birds. Day Six - Meat! This progression parallels the theorized physical progression the bulk of your astrophysicists propose, only the scentific community measures this progression in billions of years rather than six days.
But who is to say how long these "days" were during the creation? It wasn't until Day Four that days, nights and seasons were established and regulated (which I called "Stability of the earth's rotation" above), so the 24-hour standard of a day is not particularly likely.
The Bible had to be written so humans could understand it. Early humans understood "days" - "epochs" were a bit above them. Days, like epochs, have beginnings and ends with busy, shiny parts in the middle, so calling these epochs "days" makes sense. The Bible is full of inexact parallels to aid dipshits like us wrap our puny brains around larger concepts - why not open with one?
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Post #8 - God's Logic
Right here, right now... get this in your head. God is not human. God is infinitely above humanity. Therefore, His logic will not mirror ours. Period.
There will be times where your life as a Christian will seem unfair, and by earthly justice you would be correct. God's logic and sense of justice is much more complicated than ours. Our tiny wrinkly little monkey brains can't even scratch the surface of God's logic, so His sense of justice is even that much more out of bounds.
To give you a simple visual of the contrast between God's logic and ours, imagine standing in front of mile-long wall of 20' x 20' high dice, all red, and all with the one-spot facing out. As far as we're concerned, all there is to this wall is a bunch of single-spotted red dice because that's all we can see. God, however, has the advantage of extra-dimensionality - he can look at the top of the wall of dice. He can see that there is a mile-by-mile solid square of dice, in all colors spread throughout, with numbers one through six sprinkled as randomly as the day is long. While He sees the entire spread of dice and knows all the possibilities they could offer, we wonder why He has such a hardon for red one-spots.
This is where faith comes in. Trust in God. You may be looking at snake-eyes, but God sees a much bigger game... and He's still betting on you.
There will be times where your life as a Christian will seem unfair, and by earthly justice you would be correct. God's logic and sense of justice is much more complicated than ours. Our tiny wrinkly little monkey brains can't even scratch the surface of God's logic, so His sense of justice is even that much more out of bounds.
To give you a simple visual of the contrast between God's logic and ours, imagine standing in front of mile-long wall of 20' x 20' high dice, all red, and all with the one-spot facing out. As far as we're concerned, all there is to this wall is a bunch of single-spotted red dice because that's all we can see. God, however, has the advantage of extra-dimensionality - he can look at the top of the wall of dice. He can see that there is a mile-by-mile solid square of dice, in all colors spread throughout, with numbers one through six sprinkled as randomly as the day is long. While He sees the entire spread of dice and knows all the possibilities they could offer, we wonder why He has such a hardon for red one-spots.
This is where faith comes in. Trust in God. You may be looking at snake-eyes, but God sees a much bigger game... and He's still betting on you.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Post #7 - Alcohol
Let's put this age-old debate to bed right now - it is impossible for alcohol consumption to be a sin. Jesus drank wine. Jesus is without sin. Thus, drinking wine is without sin.
Further, He turned water into wine at the Wedding Feast of Cana. Jesus, the same man who authored "lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil" converted barrels of water into wine for a wedding feast.
Saying drinking alcoholic beverages is a sin thus requires one of the following to be true: (1) Jesus sinned. (2) Jesus provided the material for sinful acts where before there was none, and in so became a hypcorite. (3) All the wine Jesus consumed and created contained no alcohol. Points #1 and #2 requires one to scrap critical tenets of Christianity, so if you base your claim on either of these arguments, you're bringing a football to a hockey game.
Thus, Argument #3, being the only argument not impuging out Lord and Savior, must be the argument for the Christian who maintains that alcohol is sinful. This argument, however, is almost as ludicrous. Everybody drank the same wine, and a lot of people got pissed from it around Jesus - especially at the Wedding.
Those wedding feasts lasted for days - nobody could sing and dance and celebrate for days upon days back then while only drinking tasty grape juice. They had fields and flocks to tend and/or hours of water-hauling and food preparation depending upon gender, as well as a healthy set of Jewish laws to abide. Sober partiers would break up the deal after about a day and a half in guilt and shame to return to their assigned chores (or to supervise the servants doing their assigned chores) - they absolutely needed the mental lubricant of alcohol to let the joy of marriage override the compulsion to duty for that long.
Thus... consuming alcohol is not a sin in itself. Consuming alcohol to excess is a sin. The same can be said for overindulgence in anything. Overindulgence in Christmas cookies is a sin - one for which my belt is still demanding pennance - but I haven't heard of any Christian congregations condemning cookies out of whole cloth for their potential to lead our children astray.
Further, He turned water into wine at the Wedding Feast of Cana. Jesus, the same man who authored "lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil" converted barrels of water into wine for a wedding feast.
Saying drinking alcoholic beverages is a sin thus requires one of the following to be true: (1) Jesus sinned. (2) Jesus provided the material for sinful acts where before there was none, and in so became a hypcorite. (3) All the wine Jesus consumed and created contained no alcohol. Points #1 and #2 requires one to scrap critical tenets of Christianity, so if you base your claim on either of these arguments, you're bringing a football to a hockey game.
Thus, Argument #3, being the only argument not impuging out Lord and Savior, must be the argument for the Christian who maintains that alcohol is sinful. This argument, however, is almost as ludicrous. Everybody drank the same wine, and a lot of people got pissed from it around Jesus - especially at the Wedding.
Those wedding feasts lasted for days - nobody could sing and dance and celebrate for days upon days back then while only drinking tasty grape juice. They had fields and flocks to tend and/or hours of water-hauling and food preparation depending upon gender, as well as a healthy set of Jewish laws to abide. Sober partiers would break up the deal after about a day and a half in guilt and shame to return to their assigned chores (or to supervise the servants doing their assigned chores) - they absolutely needed the mental lubricant of alcohol to let the joy of marriage override the compulsion to duty for that long.
Thus... consuming alcohol is not a sin in itself. Consuming alcohol to excess is a sin. The same can be said for overindulgence in anything. Overindulgence in Christmas cookies is a sin - one for which my belt is still demanding pennance - but I haven't heard of any Christian congregations condemning cookies out of whole cloth for their potential to lead our children astray.
Friday, January 6, 2012
Post #6 - Miracles
Many people think miracles all have to be like the parting of the Red Sea or Jesus walking on water or other spectacular events. If that's all you count as a miracle, you will be sorely disappointed in the Lord's attention to your life.
Fortunately, that definition of "miracle" is complete crap. Miracles happen all the time. My life has been full of them. I'm sure more will happen, and I will be grateful for them as I have been grateful for the ones I have received.
The most useful definition of a miracle is "an occurence that simply could not have happenned without God's intervention". It doesn't have to be a supernatural occurence - it could be as simple as a wrong turn that helps you avoid a car accident.
As for me, miracles were definitely involved for me to have the wife and job that I do. Sally was (and still is) a short woman older than me with kids - three big flippin' strikes at the time I met her... but I fell in love with her anyway. My current job was at a family-owned small construction business that wears its Christianity on its sleeve - another road I'd been down in the past that I'd promised myself I'd never go down again... but I took the job anyway. I am very satisfied with my lot in life and my place with The Lord - the greatest gift a man can receive, which I would be without if I'd listened to my stubborn self.
Those are the biggest miracles in my life - I neither deserve nor accept any credit for taking those actions. It was all God using me as a meat puppet very much against my will. Needless to say, I'm much more receptive to His guidance these days.
If you think back in your life, you're bound to find a few things you did that you wouldn't normally do (and I don't mean at band camp or Mardi Gras... I mean everyday important stuff) that turned out to be one of the better decisions you've ever made. Well, stop patting yourself on the back, Monkey-In-Pants - those were miracles. Just because your miracle won't get you your own book of the Bible doesn't make it any less miraculous, so give the credit where it is due.
Fortunately, that definition of "miracle" is complete crap. Miracles happen all the time. My life has been full of them. I'm sure more will happen, and I will be grateful for them as I have been grateful for the ones I have received.
The most useful definition of a miracle is "an occurence that simply could not have happenned without God's intervention". It doesn't have to be a supernatural occurence - it could be as simple as a wrong turn that helps you avoid a car accident.
As for me, miracles were definitely involved for me to have the wife and job that I do. Sally was (and still is) a short woman older than me with kids - three big flippin' strikes at the time I met her... but I fell in love with her anyway. My current job was at a family-owned small construction business that wears its Christianity on its sleeve - another road I'd been down in the past that I'd promised myself I'd never go down again... but I took the job anyway. I am very satisfied with my lot in life and my place with The Lord - the greatest gift a man can receive, which I would be without if I'd listened to my stubborn self.
Those are the biggest miracles in my life - I neither deserve nor accept any credit for taking those actions. It was all God using me as a meat puppet very much against my will. Needless to say, I'm much more receptive to His guidance these days.
If you think back in your life, you're bound to find a few things you did that you wouldn't normally do (and I don't mean at band camp or Mardi Gras... I mean everyday important stuff) that turned out to be one of the better decisions you've ever made. Well, stop patting yourself on the back, Monkey-In-Pants - those were miracles. Just because your miracle won't get you your own book of the Bible doesn't make it any less miraculous, so give the credit where it is due.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Post #5 - Cursing
This is one of the rare topics where I feel infinitely more qualified to share than your average priest or pastor - if only based on experience.
The only language expressly forbidden in the Bible is taking the Lord's name in vain. Everything else is fuzzy. Since language tends to flow with culture, one's social surroundings tend to define what language is acceptible and which is forbidden, taboo, obscene, etc. Therefore, that which is commonly known as "cursing" is more of a cultural phenomenon that a spiritual one.
We are supposed to live lives that mirror that of Jesus Christ, and by the definition above, He cursed quite frequently and famously. In no way am I saying Our Lord and Savior ever said "Hey, Bartholomew... could you please pass the motherfucking grape leaves?" - but I am saying He would say things that offended people to the core when He knew such a shock was necessary to make a point. In the parable of The Good Samaritan, He compared a Samaritan (a most loathed subculture to the Pharisees) favorably to two different rabbis... while in a room full of rabbi Pharisees. To give you a modern equivalent of this "cursing" may cause me to go all Heath-Ledger-after-the-Joker since it would require plunging into a depth of depravity from which there would be no sane return. Similarly, the parable of the Prodigal Son boldly pointed out the impropriety of self-righteousness and legalism in a room full of self-righteous lawyers. Such strong language was required to shock people out of their comfort zones - to kick open a window into the Big Picture. God's *real* plan did not exclusively benefit the power structure of the time, and the only way to get the Powers That Be to see that was to take the floor out from under them through strong language.
And while we're at it, smartassedness can also be an effective language tool which many would find at least disrespectful if not offensive. When backed into an apparent rhetorical corner as to whether Jews should fund Roman oppression by paying taxes or violating earthly law by refusing, Jesus famously asked them to look at their coins and ask whose face was upon it. Since it was Caesar's face, He said "well, it must be his, then... so give to Caesar what is Caesar's and give to God what belongs to God." Nowadays we know why He said what He did and what He meant by it, but in His day that was a major smartass comment. The visual of "look at the coin" was a stark and efficient way of making His point. To explain the complete reasoning behind it would take a lot more time than the rabbis and Romans were willing to allow - painting a picture through smartassery got the job done.
On the whole, yes we should avoid offending people with our words. Acceptible speech is a very good way to appeal to polite society and represent Him to them. But when politeness is valued more than truth, it may become time to bring the big verbal guns.
The only language expressly forbidden in the Bible is taking the Lord's name in vain. Everything else is fuzzy. Since language tends to flow with culture, one's social surroundings tend to define what language is acceptible and which is forbidden, taboo, obscene, etc. Therefore, that which is commonly known as "cursing" is more of a cultural phenomenon that a spiritual one.
We are supposed to live lives that mirror that of Jesus Christ, and by the definition above, He cursed quite frequently and famously. In no way am I saying Our Lord and Savior ever said "Hey, Bartholomew... could you please pass the motherfucking grape leaves?" - but I am saying He would say things that offended people to the core when He knew such a shock was necessary to make a point. In the parable of The Good Samaritan, He compared a Samaritan (a most loathed subculture to the Pharisees) favorably to two different rabbis... while in a room full of rabbi Pharisees. To give you a modern equivalent of this "cursing" may cause me to go all Heath-Ledger-after-the-Joker since it would require plunging into a depth of depravity from which there would be no sane return. Similarly, the parable of the Prodigal Son boldly pointed out the impropriety of self-righteousness and legalism in a room full of self-righteous lawyers. Such strong language was required to shock people out of their comfort zones - to kick open a window into the Big Picture. God's *real* plan did not exclusively benefit the power structure of the time, and the only way to get the Powers That Be to see that was to take the floor out from under them through strong language.
And while we're at it, smartassedness can also be an effective language tool which many would find at least disrespectful if not offensive. When backed into an apparent rhetorical corner as to whether Jews should fund Roman oppression by paying taxes or violating earthly law by refusing, Jesus famously asked them to look at their coins and ask whose face was upon it. Since it was Caesar's face, He said "well, it must be his, then... so give to Caesar what is Caesar's and give to God what belongs to God." Nowadays we know why He said what He did and what He meant by it, but in His day that was a major smartass comment. The visual of "look at the coin" was a stark and efficient way of making His point. To explain the complete reasoning behind it would take a lot more time than the rabbis and Romans were willing to allow - painting a picture through smartassery got the job done.
On the whole, yes we should avoid offending people with our words. Acceptible speech is a very good way to appeal to polite society and represent Him to them. But when politeness is valued more than truth, it may become time to bring the big verbal guns.
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